Real Reviews- Masks and Mobsters #1

Masks And Mobsters #1

Written by Joshua Williamson. Illustrated by Mike Henderson

Review by Ziah Grace

We read the first issue of the new Monkeybrain comic, Masks and Mobsters. Hit the jump to see what we think.

One of the most interesting things about the superhero universe is the vast number of crazy crime syndicates that spring up around heroes; from AIM to the Maggia family, there’s a lot of potential in examining the criminal response to superpowered vigilantes. Masks & Mobsters: A Crime Anthology, the sixth new outing of new publisher Monkeybrain, promises to be just that. Admittedly, the series seems to be more street-level crime, and less Mental Organisms Designed Only for Killing, but the potential’s there regardless.

Joshua Williamson does a nice job with the first issue; there’s a twist, as is required in just about every noir story, but since the comic is so short, he doesn’t waste much time getting there. The real meat of the comic is the grumblings of the titular mobsters as they start to adapt to a new age of nosy vigilantes interrupting their machinations. If the series lives up to the promise of the first issue, this could be a series of very interesting superhero noirs, and considering Brubaker’s busy with his other projects, it fills a painfully empty niche.

Mike Henderson’s art is absolutely perfect for this. His art is expressive and fluid, and moreover, he has a great sense of the balanced contrast between white, black, and shades of grey. Even so, he resists the popular idea that a dark story requires literally dark panel (as in muddy), keeping his figure work clear through the black and white contrast. The only flaw I can point out was that the design of the first superhero introduced, Doctor Daylight, is pretty boring – nothing inventive, it is standard golden age costuming. It gives the opportunity for some cool lighting opportunities, but otherwise, is a fairly standard outfit but it works for the era. Still, Henderson’s obvious skill goes a long way towards making this comic intriguing, and I’m eager to see where he and Williamson will go next.

In Summary

It’s a new Monkeybrain comic for $0.99! Of course you should buy it! It’s really good too!